ALL ABOUT HAMIGUITAN...
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cool
Topic: d truth behind hamiguitan
Feeling 'Gulliver'
on Mt. Hamiguitan
By Leonard Paul Palo
Inquirer News Service
SAN ISIDRO, Davao Oriental--Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog called Ego." This could be every mountaineer's motivational credo as every summit or peak that he or she tries to conquer presents a unique and fairly different challenge.
In the town of San Isidro in Davao Oriental province, also known as the Sunrise Capital of the Philippines, lies the 5,000-foot Mt. Hamiguitan -- an enchanting crest lined with thick vegetation and some rocky terrain, which is home to the famous pygmy or bonsai forest and the 250-foot twin falls.
On June 14-17, in celebration of San Isidro's 38th founding anniversary and its yearly "Bauldayawan Festival," the local tourism office, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism regional office, the Mountaineering Federation of Southern Mindanao (MFSM) and the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines Inc. (MFPI), organized the "Katkat ta sa Hamiguitan," or the journey to Hamiguitan.
The event was participated in by 84 mountaineers. Seeing it as another breathtaking opportunity to explore something new and exciting, I and a few adventurous members of the MFSM, the MFPI and the Edge Outdoor Shop in Davao, embarked on the mind-blowing trip.
Getting there
Our crew and the rest of the participants coming from Davao City reached barangay Manikling in San Isidro in a dump truck. An air-conditioned bus normally plies the Davao-Mati route to the village, charging 164 pesos per passenger. From there, a 5-minute ride on a habal-habal (improvised motorcycle) or a jeepney takes one to the poblacion (town proper), which is also referred to by the locals as "Bato-Bato."
A Mitsubishi L-300 van plying the Davao-Sigaboy route brings one directly to the poblacion. The land trip takes as long as four hours, depending on the speed of the vehicle.
Before our ascent, the municipal government headed by Mayor Apolinar Ruelo Sr., and administrative officer Lanie Casta?ares welcomed the mountaineers at the San Isidro Training and Convention Center. A choir serenaded the participants, and the officials briefed the participants on what to expect during the climb.
From Sitio Tumaliti, our crew, which volunteered to be the lead pack, began our trek to the first campsite at 6 a.m. the following day, crossing rivers and following forest trails.
We took a slight detour after being told of a recent landslide along the way.
Before reaching Camp 1, we stopped at a place called "Lantawan" or view deck, a rocky section of the mountain that is rich in copper and silver deposits. The rocks glittered like gold when the rays of the sun struck them. Pitcher plants grew along the trail.
Wrong turn
When we reached the first checkpoint, called "Pulang Lupa" because of its clayish soil, we logged in with the volunteers manning the post and were told to list the names of climbers who had already passed through. Little did we know that two trails actually lay ahead of us, and we had taken a wrong turn that cost us a lot of time and energy.
The trail that we took, which was not properly blocked by the technical team who earlier assessed the area, would have taken us to the neighboring town of Governor Generoso, which was way too far from our destination. When we realized that we were lost, we decided to retrace our steps back to the checkpoint.
We reached the camp at noon and after a few minutes rest, we continued our trek to Camp 4, where we were supposed to stay for the night. After nearly two hours of hiking, we arrived at the camp, but then the whole horde of mountaineers decided to proceed to Camp 3 to see the Pygmy Forest.
Again, we prodded on. With wet clothes and muddied boots, we took an even muddier uphill trail. We passed through an area that some mountaineers christened the "Super Ferry" because one would have to hold on to some railings made out of tree branches and roots, just like one sees in an ocean liner.
After almost 10 hours of walking and dodging wayward branches and thorny bushes, we finally reached Camp 3. It was foggy and we soothed our aching and cramped muscles before calling it a night.
Like giants
The next morning, the camp was still shrouded by fog and chill. The famed 600-hectare Pygmy Forest was just a stone's throw away, so Inquirer photographer Ryan Lim and I decided to set off early. We staked it out so that we could take better pictures when the thick mist would finally dissipate.
The air finally cleared and we saw ourselves trekking through pint-sized trees, some of which were only a foot high but with well developed trunks and branches. The mini-forest was believed to be centuries-old and, from a distance, one could be looking at regular trees.
We felt like giants walking through the area which had versions of the "Almaciga," "Fire Tree" and many other species, including rare orchids.
Just 30 minutes of hiking from the camp lay the 250-foot twin falls. Unfortunately, the cascading waters during our visit were not really that powerful, but it was still a sight to behold.
Apart from the Pygmy Forest and the Twin Falls, Mt. Hamiguitan is the site of the "Tinagong Dagat," (hidden sea), which is a saltwater lake in the middle of the mountains. What's so surprising about this body of water is that it is the habitat of a number of fish species. How the fish got there, nobody knows, since the lake is surrounded by tall mountains. Many believe that the species were simply a product of evolution.
The thought of seeing the undersized trees really stuck to my head. I felt like Gulliver walking in Lilliput.
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